Our organization serves as a resource for cooperative effort among Home & School Associations in the Ridgewood Public Schools. Membership includes the Superintendent of Schools, all the current Home and School Presidents, five former Home & School Presidents who serve as officers, and a Member-at-Large.

News

November 21, 2018

Important Message from Federated HSA

Everyyear, the RidgewoodFederatedHome & SchoolAssociationpresentsoneannualfundraiser to benefitourschooldistrict: the HarlemWizardsvsRidgewoodA+Teambasketballgame.Federated is a cooperativeboard that includescurrent HSA presidents,plusfiveformerpresidentswhoserveasofficers.

We arepleasedtoannouncethe 2019 date for theWizardsgame will beFriday,January 25. Our event will be heldatRidgewoodHighSchool,withtip-offat 7pm. The costwillremainat $15 per ticket.Souvenirs and concessionswill be sold,withproceedsdonated to programs that supporttheRidgewoodPublicSchoolscommunity.

We areveryfortunate that the Wizardsgame is one of Ridgewood’smostsuccessfulfundraisers.Unfortunately,weoftenface higher demandthanthemaximumcapacityallowed, and we regretthatthereare not enoughseats to accommodateeveryone. We know this has causeddisappointment in thepast, and we haveworkedhard to adjust where possible. Our goal is to makesuremorefamilieshaveanopportunity to attendthisevent,whilealsokeepinginmindthat this is a fundraiser,so we haveanobligationtobalanceourrevenueandcosts.

Over thelastseveralmonths, we haveexplorednumerousoptions,specifically:

Venue. Since our gym canonlyhold 850 people,wehaveinvestigatedothernearbyfacilities.Unfortunately,movingoffsitenotonlyforcesfamilies to travel,itexposesus to facilityfees,insurancecosts,concessionrestrictions, etc., whichwouldgreatlyimpactthesuccess of theevent.Ultimately,this is a Ridgewoodcommunityevent and fundraiser,so we decided to keeptheeventat RHS.

Schedule.Manyparentshavesuggested that weadd a second game.Oneconcernwiththisapproach is not knowingwhether we haveenoughdemandtofillanotherevent. It is veryexpensive to undertake,as we need to sellanadditional 400 ticketsjust to breakeven. To helpgatherdata, the Wizards will provide a WaitListoptiononceticketsaresoldout.Itwillnot only serveas a potentialticketredistributionservice this year, it willhelpdetermine how muchadditionalcapacitycould be filled in futureyears.

Ticketing. Some parentshavesuggested that tickets be distributedbylotterythroughtheschools. We feelstrongly that this is a lessimpartialapproachthanonlinesales,whichensuresanequallyfairchance to securetickets.Themostimportantchangethisyear is that we havereducedthemaximum number of tickets per purchase to four (4) instead of six(6).Usinglastyear’sdata,thisshouldputapproximately100moreticketsintocirculation.

Promotion. Some parentshaveexpressedconcernthattheirchildrenareupsetwhentheycannotattendan event that has been highly promotedatschool,sowehavedecidedtoscalebackour event promotion.

Only parentswillreceiveannouncementsaboutthe event this year, which willhopefullyeasestudentdisappointment if we reachcapacityagain.

We takeyourfeedbackseriously and strivetomakethis a positiveevent for ourdistrict. If youhave any questions,pleasefeelfreetoreachusatwizardsquestions@gmail.com.

Thank you somuchforyourongoingsupport of ourschools!

Sincerely,

The FederatedHome & SchoolAssociationExecutiveBoard

Melinda Cronk,President

Kay Murphy,FirstVicePresident

KellyBuchsbaum,Second Vice President

LaurenDiMaulo,Secretary/Treasurer

IsabelleLeluc,MemberatLarge

February 1, 2018

Thanks to parents, teachers and administrators for helping us realize another successful fundraiser with the Harlem Wizards! This popular event, held on January 26, 2018, raised $10,433.13! Those proceeds will be donated to the Board of Education to support the Community Outreach speaker series, and to the Ridgewood Education Foundation.

The Ridgewood Public Schools, committed to a tradition of excellence and innovation, in partnership with the community, provide a rich and challenging learning environment, enabling students to maximize their unique potential to become lifelong learners and productive, responsible citizens.